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ARABIC 5701 the Qurʾān in Translation

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ARABIC 5701 the Qurʾān in Translation Attention! This is a representative syllabus. The syllabus for the course you are enrolled in will likely be different. Please refer to your instructor’s syllabus for more information on specific requirements for a given semester. ARABIC 5701 The Qurʾān in Translation Meeting Time/ Location: COURSE DESCRIPTION As the scripture for generations of Muslims since the early-seventh century, the Qur'an has been the foundation of faith, the pattern and text for ritual, the source of law, the link with Judaeo-Christian literature, and the wellspring of an international, multicultural Islamic civilization. As verbal art, Muslims hold the Qur’an to be inimitable; and it is unquestionably a - if not THE - masterpiece of Arabic literature. Through lectures and close readings, this course acquaints students with the modern methods and contemporary approaches to reading the Qur’an and explores the revolutionary impact the text had on the geographical, historical, social, political, cultural, and religious environment of sixth and seventh century Arabia. This course is taught in English and all readings are assigned in translation. Instructor: office: office hours: email: REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING The course consists of two 80 minute meetings per week dedicated to lectures and discussions. Please read the assigned materials during the week they are assigned and come to discussions prepared with questions and observations on the readings. Readings: Assigned readings for each session are indicated on the attached schedule of lectures. All books on the syllabus been placed on reserve at the library; all articles and primary readings can be found on the course website via Carmen (http://carmen.osu.edu) . Reading assignments given by author only on the syllabus (e.g., “Ernst, 1-25”) refer to the class textbooks listed below, which are available for purchase from the university bookstore: Carl W. Ernst, How to Read the Qurʾān. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-1469609768 M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, translator. The Qurʾan (Oxford World’s Classics). Oxford: Oxford 1 University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0199535958 Page ARABIC 5701 Michael Sells, Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations. Ashland, Oregon: White Cloud, 2006. ISBN: 978-1883991692 Map Assignment: During the first week of class you will be given a simple map assignment to acquaint you with the basic geographic locations of the seventh-century Near East of salient importance to the study of the Qurʾān and historical environment. Discussions and class participation: This class thrives on in-class discussions of texts that we’ve read together before coming to class. In order To demonstrate to me that you’ve read the assigned reading prior to coming to class and to help me steer in-class discussion, you are required to email me ([email protected]) a minimum of 3 questions on the assigned readings prior to the beginning of class. Your class participation grade is directly dependent on your turning in these questions and your vocal participation in class discussions. Papers: The bulk of your grade for this course will be evaluated based on three assignments: two sūra analyses and one term paper written on a topic of your own choosing or in response to prompts based off your readings, presentations, and lectures. For directions on the completion of these papers, please refer to the handouts posted on the Carmen website. All written work will serve as your attempt to express your own ideas in a medium-length essay on an assigned or pre-approved topic. These topics will require you to draw extensively upon the assigned readings and the ideas discussed in class and will be scrutinized and evaluated on the basis of the criteria of academic writing. Developing and mastering the ability to write critically and to engage texts as well as historical events, movements, and persons with critical acumen is a difficult, but worthwhile, task. Even if you never revisit the topic of this course again, the skills you acquire in writing and improving your essays will serve you well for the rest of your life. I therefore beseech you to take time to write your essays well. Further instructions on class paper assignments can be found on the assignment handouts and course Grading Rubric. Papers must be handed in punctually. Papers should be submitted by 12:45pm on the days indicated on the syllabus below. Please submit to me a printed copy of your paper in class. Delays are unacceptable; they not only complicate grading but are unfair to others who have striven to submit their essays on time. For this reason, penalties will be assessed for lateness. Please do not ask for extensions: if you have sports or work commitments or requirements for other courses, you are expected to plan ahead and manage your time effectively so that the assignment can be submitted on time. If you have legitimate concerns, please contact me well in advance (at least 2 weeks). Final Grade Tally: Course grades will be computed as follows: Map Assignment 5%; Class Participation, 15%; Sūra Analysis Papers (x2), 40%; Term Paper, 40 %. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish 2 procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term Page ARABIC 5701 “academic misconduct” includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed; illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487). For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct (http://studentlife.osu.edu/csc/).” DISABILITY POLICY Students with disabilities that have been certified by the Office for Disability Services will be appropriately accommodated and should inform the instructor as soon as possible of their needs. The Office for Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue; telephone 292-3307, TDD 292-0901; http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu/. FOR YOUR SAFETY, the OSU Student Safety/Escort Service is available after 7 p.m. by dialing 292-3322. 3 Page ARABIC 5701 COURSE SCHEDULE* Week 1 PRELIMINARIES Wed (Aug 26) Course Introduction Fri (Aug 28) What actually is the Qurʾān? Basic terms and ideas Readings: • Sells, 1-34; • Ernst, 1-19. Week 2 Wed (Sept 2) The Qurʾān as Experienced by Muslims Readings: • Ernst, 20-75 • Navid Kermani, God is Beautiful: The Aethestic Experience of the Quran, tr. Tony Crawford (Cambridge, 2015), 1-66. Fri (Sept 4) A Misunderstood Book? The Qurʾān in Western Scholarship Readings: • Patricia Crone, “What do we actually know about Muḥammad?” Open Democracy (web publication), 31 August 2006 [CLICK HERE] • Angelika Neuwirth, “Neither of the East nor the West (lā sharqiyya wa lā gharbiyya, Q. 24:35): Locating the Qurʾān within the History of Scholarship,” in Scripture, Poetry and the Making of a Community: Reading the Qurʾān as a Literary Text (Oxford, 2014), 3- 52 Week 3 LOCATING THE QURʾĀN IN HISTORY Wed (Sept 9) The Qurʾān and Seventh-Century Arabia Readings: • Q 30 Rūm; Q 105 Fīl; Q 106 Quraysh • P. Crone, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam (Princeton, 1987), 203- 52. OR 4 * Be sure to check the course website on Carmen (http://carmen.osu.edu) for updates. Page ARABIC 5701 • Christian Julien Robin, “Arabia and Ethiopia,” in The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity, ed. Scott Fitzgerald Johnson (Oxford, 2012), 247-332. Fri (Sept 11) Iqrāʾ! Muḥammad’s First Revelation? Readings: • Q 68 Qalam; Q 73 Muzzammil; Q 74 Muddaththar; 96 ʿAlaq • Maʿmar ibn Rāshid, The Expeditions, tr. S. Anthony (New York, 2015), 9-12 Week 4 Wed (Sept 16) The Early Meccan Suras (I) a) Q 93, 94, 97, 108, 105, 106 b) Q 102, 107, 111, 104 c) Q 103, 99, 100, 101, 95 • Devin Stewart, “Sajʿ in the Qurʾān: Prosody and Structure,” Journal of Arabic Literature 21 (1990): 101-39. Fri (Sept 18) The Early Meccan Suras (II) a) Q Fajr 89, Shams 91, Layl 92, Balad 90 b) Q Aʿlā 87, ʿAlaq 96 c) Q 82 Infiṭār, Takwīr 81, Inshiqāq 84, Ṭāriq 86, Burūj 85 • Angelika Neuwirth, “Images and Metaphors in the Introductory Sections of the Early Meccan Suras,” in Scripture, Poetry, and the Making of a Community, 102-39. Week 5 Wed (Sept 23) The Early Meccan Suras (III) a) Q Muzzammil 73, Muddaththir 74, ʿAbasa 80, Nāziʿāt 79 b) Q Qiyāmah 75, Maʿārij 70, Nabaʾ 78, Ghāshiyah 88 c) Q Muṭaffifīn 83, Mursalāt 77 • Ernst, 76-102 Fri (Sept 25) The Early Meccan Suras (IV) a) Q Dhāriyāt 51, Ḥāqqah 69, Qalam 68 b) Q Raḥmān 55, Wāqiʿah 56, Najm 53, Ṭūr 52 5 Page ARABIC 5701 • Nicolai Sinai, “An Interpretation of Sūrat al-Najm (Q. 53),” Journal of Qurʾānic Studies 13.2 (2011): 1-28. Week 6 MIDDLE AND LATER MECCAN SŪRAS Wed (Sept 30) From Ḥanīfiyya to Islam Readings: • Q 14 Ibrāhīm; Q Ḥajj 22; Q Baqara 2: 124-153 • Genesis 12-24 • Uri Rubin, “Ḥanīfiyya and Kaʿba: An Inquiry into the Arabian Pre- Islamic Background of Dīn Ibrāhīm,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 13 (1990): 85-112.† Or • Angelika Neuwirth, “From Tribal Genealogy to Divine Covenant: Qurʾanic Re-figurations of Pagan Arab Ideals Based on Biblical Models,” in Scripture, Poetry, and the Making of a Community, 53- 75. Fri (Oct 2) Who are the Mushrikūn? Readings: • Q Anʿām 6; Aʿrāf 7; Q Isrāʾ 17 • Ernst, 138-154 • P. Crone, “The Religion of the Qur'ānic Pagans: God and the Lesser Deities,” Arabica 57 (2010) 151-200. Or • P. Crone, “The Qurʾānic Mushrikūn and the Resurrection, Part I,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 75 (2011): 445- 72.
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